


oh captains, my captains

by greywardenblue



Category: Castaway! Love's Adventure (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Clyde S2 and S3, Clyde is disaster bi and awkward with men, Demigod (Cyprin) ex Machina, F/M, Joaquin is secretly insecure when it comes to commitment, Joaquin should have flirted with both and they should have been a triad, MC just loves both of them so much, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, listen I'm just saying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:00:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23442862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greywardenblue/pseuds/greywardenblue
Summary: When Joaquin starts flirting with her despite her clearly having a boyfriend, Lara is already prepared to roll her eyes and tell him to take a hike. But the conversation doesn't go where she expected.
Relationships: Clyde Hughes/Joaquin Ortega/Main Character
Kudos: 4





	oh captains, my captains

“If your bed isn’t comfortable enough, you’re always welcome in mine.” **  
**

I roll my eyes. Joaquin is handsome, but I’ve met too many guys like him to take him seriously.

“I have a boyfriend,” I say without looking at him. Frankly, I don’t quite expect it to work, but sometimes it does. Sometimes, it’s the only thing that makes a guy back off after I’ve already made a dozen excuses. That is always frustrating, the feeling that they respect another man’s claim on me more than my ‘no’.

Even worse, sometimes they say ‘it doesn’t bother me if it doesn’t bother you’. I’ve heard it all.

Joaquin isn’t one of those guys. When I reject him, he winks at me without faltering. “The captain, right? It’s a large bed. You can bring him, too.”

Oh.

Well, that one’s new.

**

“Need a hand?”

I look up to see Joaquin smirking down at me, as he usually does. Before I could decide how to handle this, Clyde takes his offered hand.

“Thank you, Joaquin. That was very helpful of you.” Clyde smiles innocently, and I chuckle. As Clyde walks away, I notice Joaquin watch him with appreciative eyes before he turns back to me, extending his hand again. I take it.

“I think he likes you,” I whisper to him teasingly, and Joaquin barks a laugh. I move to catch up with Clyde.

My captain pulls me to his side, his lips touching my forehead for a moment. I relax into his touch immediately. I never thought I’d find love after a shipwreck, on an island in an isolated village, and yet here we are. It wasn’t that long ago that Clyde kept pulling away from me, making me doubt if I was just imagining things, and yet, it feels like it was another lifetime. Now, there is no doubt in my heart of his love.

“If I keep stepping in, maybe he’ll get the hint,” Clyde mumbles into my hair, and I might think he’s upset about Joaquin flirting with me if I didn’t hear the smile in his voice. “He doesn’t bother you, does he?”

“Not if it doesn’t bother you,” I answer, and Clyde shrugs.

“I didn’t expect to be the only one to notice how beautiful you are. And I trust you not to do anything behind my back, so… as long as you’re fine with it, I don’t see the problem.”

“No, I meant…” I pause, squinting up at him. Did he really not notice? “You realize he’s flirting with you too, right?”

Clyde’s eyes widen. “What?”

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure he just checked out your butt while you walked over here, and it wasn’t the first time.” I shrug. “Not that I blame him. It’s a nice butt.”

Clyde goes quiet, and I hesitate. Against all reason, I suddenly remember all the guys I dated that seemed perfectly fine, but acted disgusted if one of my gay or bi guy friends flirted with them. I don’t think Clyde is like that - he seems perfectly secure in his masculinity, and I remember him joking with Serena about wearing her skirt. In fact, we’ve never directly talked about it, but sometimes I get the feeling…

Wait, is he blushing?

“Are you blushing?” He’s absolutely blushing.

“Please don’t tell Serena,” he pleads, covering his face. “She loves teasing me about getting embarrassed when handsome people flirt with me.”

It’s little things like that, like saying handsome people instead of handsome girls. Others might not even notice it, but it’s easy to spot when you’re used to doing it too.

Clyde laughs. “You’d think I’d get better at this, given that I came out more than a decade ago. But guys are always harder somehow.”

I relax immediately, a smile finding its way to my face. “Funny. I get more flustered around girls, usually.”

He smiles. “I’m sure Serena has some experience to share with you on that.” He trails off, and he looks like he maybe wants to say something, but isn’t sure how to bring it up.

I decide to prod him a little. “So… you think Joaquin’s handsome?”

Clyde lets out a startled laugh, blushing again. He opens his mouth to answer, but he’s cut off by the captain in question calling for everyone’s attention. Clyde presses a kiss to my cheek. “Later,” he says before stepping away.

**

The competition is harmless fun, Joaquin almost flirting more with Clyde than with me as we prepare the ships. After I pointed it out last time, Clyde seems to notice it more, too, and turns his head to hide being flustered. My laugh catches Joaquin’s attention. He turns and winks at me and I turn away with a blush, the same way Clyde does.

I’m not sure where this is going, exactly, but I can’t help liking it.

Clyde and I are alone on the ship, currently in the lead, and I’m wondering how to bring it up when the weather changes suddenly.

There is nothing harmless about the Kraken.

**

I rush to Joaquin’s ship as soon as I see it at the docks, yet I find myself hesitating when I see his back through the door. Well, he’s fine. Should I leave now?

He notices me before I can decide and smirks. “Missed me?” he asks, but his usual spark is missing. His attention quickly goes back to the plans on his desk, away from me. I step closer, stopping next to him.

“I was worried when we didn’t see you get back. You…” I trail off. He must have seen the Kraken, too. “Are you okay?”

Joaquin hums. “I’m fine. The Kraken didn’t attack me, which is strange… but I did see you fighting it.” He finally turns to me again. “I see your other captain kept you safe.”

I pout, indignant. I don’t want to think about how he clearly counts himself as one of my captains. “Hey! I’ll have you know that it was me who shot the tentacle with a cannon!”

He looks surprised for a moment, then laughs and steps closer. I’m between him and the desk, my back pressing against the latter. Shit.

“Maybe you’ll be the one protecting us, then.” He leans in closer, and I put my hands on his shoulder to gently push him back a second before his lips touch mine.

“Don’t…” I pause, and he raises an eyebrow. “Not without Clyde,” I find myself saying. Joaquin grins and takes one of my hands from his shoulder, pressing a kiss to the center of my palm instead.

“Works for me.”

**

“So,” I start.

Clyde glances up. “Yes?”

“Joaquin,” I prompt.

Clyde waits for me to continue. “… yes?”

This is not my first time in a polyamorous triad, and yet I still don’t know how to handle it. That’s not surprising - it’s always a different dynamic.

“Well… you know, we talked about how he flirts with both of us? And, he made several comments to imply that he’d like to… have us both… in bed?” I throw the words out without thinking too much about them. Before I can change my mind and chicken out.

Clyde nods slowly. “And… you think we should take him up on the offer?”

I shrug helplessly. “Do you want to?”

He steps closer to pull me into his arms, and I’m grateful for the physical contact. It might be childish, but I’m glad for the lack of the eye contact too, as I bury my face in his shoulder.

“I’ve thought about it,” he admits, and I sigh in relief.

**

The rest of the conversation is slightly awkward, but we warm up to it eventually. (What are the boundaries? Is this a one-time thing? Can we both be with Joaquin separately, or only when we’re together? Is this only about sex? Not all the answers are clear, but we always have time to polish the details later, as long as we have the ground rules.)

The awkwardness of that conversation is nothing compared to actually talking to Joaquin. Clyde lets me take the lead, and I stutter through the confession as the smug grin grows on Joaquin’s face. That bastard.

And yet, I can’t find the strength to be angry at him when his warm mouth is on mine, when he pushes me lightly so that my back is pressed against Clyde’s chest and Joaquin is right in front of me, when Joaquin raises his head to kiss Clyde above mine.

**

The three of us fall into a casual rhythm. Serena’s eyebrows almost disappear into her hair when Joaquin first kisses Clyde in front of everyone. I shrug when she looks at me questioningly, right before Joaquin leans down to kiss me too.

All in all, everyone takes it better than expected, although the teasing from Logan and TK seems to have no limits. My heart soars, and it all feels like it’s meant to be.

And yet, there’s the familiar doubt I felt back when Clyde and I were starting out - that, and more. Joaquin pulls me into his bed easily, pulls me to his side when we’re around the village, leans down to kiss me without warning, and he does the same to Clyde. He calls him and Clyde my Captains, mine, and the words fall easily from his lips. But when I prod about his feelings, he laughs it off, and the rest of the words freeze in my throat.

In the evenings, our group discusses our options for getting home. TK talks about some portals mentioned in an old journal he has. Clyde insists he can sail us through the storms around the island, even though Joaquin said he’s never found a way out. Logan brings up training the strange feathery dragon-like creatures we saw flying over the meadows, but Serena shoots down the idea quickly.

They seem crestfallen when we find no solution, and yet, I almost feel relieved. My eyes meet Clyde’s and I turn away quickly before he can notice. I feel ashamed, but I can’t fight the thought that is forming more and more clearly in my head.

I don’t want to go home anymore.

And then the guests arrive.

**

We notice the unfamiliar ship close to where ours crashed, only this one seems to be in a perfect condition. There are lifeboats on the shore, and footsteps leading away from them. Joaquin and Clyde are both tense and cautious, and I follow behind them, eager to see who arrived.

The three of us hide in the trees as we watch the group move around the resort. There’s about eight of them - six dressed in black suits, and the other two slightly more casually, but still in what you’d see in a fancy office. The ones in the suits seem to be searching for something while the other two stand, deep in conversation. One of them fiddles with something around their neck. The other places a comforting hand on the first one’s arm.

I try to step closer to see better, and as the one with the long hair turns their head, their eyes meet mine.

Well, shit.

They gently nudge their companion, a stunning person in a dark grey vest and a lighter grey shirt, and they both turn to look at us.

“Smooth,” Joaquin hisses next to my ear, and my face goes red.

The pair smiles, and the one in the vest waves at us. “Hello!” We glance at each other, unsure of how to proceed.

“Uh, they seem friendly,” I suggest, although I’m not sure I like the look of the ones in the suits. It’s a small comfort that they only seem to be paying passing attention to us. It’s only the that one pair whose eyes are still on us.

“We didn’t know there were people on the island,” the long-haired one says. “I promise we don’t bite!”

Clyde shrugs. “Well, we might as well talk to them.”

Joaquin still seems skeptical, but I take Clyde’s arm and we walk closer, my other captain following closely behind us.

“Hello!” Getting closer, I can make out the necklace one of them was fiddling with. It’s a small golden heart. “My name is Alex Cyprin, and she’s Agent–”

The woman coughs a little and smiles at us as her companion goes silent with a sheepish smile. “I’m Annabeth.”

“Are you with the FBI?” I ask. They look at each other and burst out laughing.

“Well, no,” Cyprin says. “But we are from the United States. New York, actually.”

“My name’s Lara, and this is Clyde,” I say, glancing back towards Joaquin, who is still glaring. “–And that is Joaquin.”

“What are you looking for?” he asks, his eyes on the people in the suits moving around. Cyprin shrugs their shoulder casually.

“That is… classified, I’m afraid. But we don’t mean to be a bother. Whatever we’re looking for is going to be in this building, which doesn’t appear to be in use at the moment…”

I glance at Clyde. We lived at the resort for weeks, but I don’t recall anything interesting that people in suits could be looking for. Of course, it’s difficult to tell whether I’ve seen the thing if I have no idea what it is.

“How did you get through the storms?” Joaquin asks, and I shoot him another look. I’m curious too, but there’s no reason to be hostile.

“We’re not afraid of a little lightning,” Annabeth says, and Cyprin bursts out laughing, covering their mouth with their hand.

“In any case,” Clyde interrupts. “We were shipwrecked here recently, and couldn’t find a way back home. There’s about six of us. We would really appreciate if you gave us a ride.”

I can feel my heart sink, but Cyprin nods almost immediately. “Of course. It might take a few days for us to search the whole resort, but we would be happy to take you once we’re done.”

“Really? That would be great,” Clyde says with enthusiasm, and I force a smile. Joaquin is completely silent. “We’re going to tell the others about it. Uh, we live in a village over–”

Cyprin raises a hand with a small smile. “It’s alright. We’ll find you when we’re done.”

**

“Well, that was ominous,” I say once we’re back on Joaquin’s ship. My comment is addressed to both of them, but only Clyde has the chance to reply, as Joaquin disappears from my side and barks orders at the crew as soon as he can. “Don’t you think that was a little ominous? The black suits, and they said, we’ll find you when we’re done–”

“A little,” Clyde admits. “But listen. This is our best chance to get home, and who knows if we’ll ever get another one like this. We shouldn’t let it get away.”

I don’t know if I’m imagining the hesitant undertone in his voice.

**

Joaquin doesn’t say a single word to either of us on our way back to the village, and when I sneak up on him to press a kiss to his cheek, he grunts and pulls away.

I don’t blame him. I don’t know what to say.

Back at the tree house, the others are a little wary when we tell them what happened, but the eagerness to get home wins. They immediately start discussing plans and packing for the journey, excitement filling our living space.

In the room I share with Clyde only, I whimper into my pillow. He sits down next to me, his hand on the small of my back.

“You don’t want to go home,” he says. It’s not a question. I whimper a little more. I praised the skies that I love two wonderful men and I didn’t have to choose between them, but now I feel like I’ll have to. Do I stay here with Joaquin, or go home with Clyde?

I cannot ask him to stay here with me. I cannot ask anyone that.

Clyde leans down and kisses the the top of my head, then gets up from the bed.

**

We don’t know how much time we have, and all three of us seem to be avoiding this conversation until the last minute.

Well, Joaquin seems to be avoiding both of us, period. It gets to the point where he sees me coming and walks the other way, and I don’t have it in me to follow.

Cyprin and their group shows up in the village two days later, and Leilani shows them around the village excitedly, with our own little group following. Cyprin and Annabeth both seem impressed by the tour, and as we get back to the docks, Annabeth turns to me specifically.

“Are your things packed for the journey home?”

I open my mouth, and no sound comes out.

Clyde puts an arm around me and pulls me close. “Actually, there has been a slight change in plans. The two of us are staying on the island, but we’d still appreciate if you took the others home.”

I don’t know who is the most shocked by his sudden declaration, although the least shocked title seems to be a tie between Serena and Arthur. Serena shakes her head with a sad smile, like she was expecting it, and Arthur… well, maybe Arthur is just really good at hiding his surprise.

TK and Logan, not so much. Their eyes are wide and they keep interrupting each other to ask why we haven’t said anything before, but I barely hear them. I pull Clyde close to me with a grin, kissing him on the mouth.

**

We all say our goodbyes - us to the group that has become like family in the last couple of months, and them, both to us and to the village that took us all in.

I can’t help noticing that Joaquin is nowhere to be found. I call out to his First Mate as he passes me.

“Morrison! Do you know where Joaquin went?”

He scratches his head, looking away sheepishly. “Well, miss.. I’m afraid he took the ship out. He doesn’t seem to like the guests much, you see.”

I flinch. I’m not too worried about Joaquin going off on his own, but… he wasn’t even going to say goodbye? What if Clyde and I really had left with the others?

And yet, I can’t blame him. I can’t imagine how I could have looked him in the eye and say my goodbyes either.

“Where’s Joaquin?” Clyde asks me a few minutes later, and I repeat what I heard from Morrison. He frowns, but then shrugs. “Well, if we’re not leaving, then there’s no hurry. He’ll come back eventually.”

He does have a point.

Cyprin catches my shoulder before they leave, and slips an unfamiliar card in my hand.

“If you ever change your mind, just press the button.” They smile at me warmly, and follow the others to the ship. I smile after them. I will not change my mind, but seeing the others again would be nice, even if just for a visit.

**

Joaquin doesn’t come back until late in the evening.

He goes straight to his own tree house, and freezes in the doorway to his room.

I glance up and wave at him from the bed, and Clyde does the same. “Hey! Cyprin left a pack of cards. You want to join us?” I hold up a card. “It has pirates on it.”

Joaquin stares.

“Where are the strangers?” he asks.

“They went home,” Clyde says. “Arthur and the others went with them.”

We look at him in silence, and he stares back at us. I grin, waiting for the second when it sinks in.

Finally, a grin spreads on his face and he lunges forward, pulling me into a kiss before raising his head to catch Clyde’s lips. Four hands pull him onto his own bed, and he laughs.

“I knew you two couldn’t resist me,” he murmurs into my skin with his hand sliding under Clyde’s shirt.

The pack of cards falls to the floor, forgotten.


End file.
